Teaching Healthy Habits With “Dinner For Dinos” and a Dinosaur Puppet Craft!

A special thank you goes out to Harper Collins and Tommy Nelson for sending my family a copy of “Dinner For Dinos: Gulp, Guzzle, Chomp, Chew” to review. Opinions expressed are that of my own.

Today I am sharing a story as well as Dinosaur Puppet Craft, intended to encourage little ones to eat their veggies! Dinner For Dinos: Gulp, Guzzle, Chomp, Chew by Thomas Nelson and illustrated by Ben Whitehouse, is a board book for young children created to make dinner time fun and less stressful.

Most kids think Dinosaurs are awesome, and if these reptiles are willing to try new foods, then your little one might just be adventurous as well. Plus these scaly creatures in the book are ADORABLE, with great attitudes that teach healthy habits.

What you will need to make a Dinosaur Puppet Craft!

Brown Paper Bag

Construction Paper

Large googly eyes

Black marker

Pencil

Glue

Scissors

Directions:

To get started, first glue on the eyes, and draw eye brows and nostrils on the bottom the brown paper bag. Then, cut out 3 teeth from white construction paper and glue under the lip of the bottom of the bag.

Next, cut out arms and a tail from construction paper and glue in between the center of the bag. Tip: Cut out one arm and use the pencil to trace another.

Then, cut out spots and hair/ spikes for the dinosaur and glue those items on. To finish, fold the top sides of the Dino’s head back and glue at the corners, and do the same at the bottom of his mouth.

Once dried, the Dinosaur Puppet Craft is ready to tell the story of Dinner For Dinos.

Details straight from the Publisher of Dinner for Dinos!

Parents everywhere want their children to be healthy and strong. Dinner for Dinos: Gulp, Guzzle, Chomp, Chew will help end mealtime battles and make dinner delightful – with silly illustrations and a rhyming story about dinosaur friends enjoying dinner.

Kids will want to join Stego, Bronto, Trixie, Raptor, and Rex as they shop, cook, set the table, give thanks, eat their greens, and use their manners. The artwork builds off of the current trend of silly children’s books with fantastic art detailing dinos and their delicious dinner. The dinosaur family, in the book, help parents show their children that eating good food doesn’t have to be a chore. In fact, eating healthy can be delicious and help children grow up big and strong – just like the dinosaurs.

Here is a great excerpt from the book!

“My mom says those who eat good foods

Will grow up big and strong

I’m eating all the greens I can

To make my tail grow long!”

Do you struggle to get your kids to eat their veggies? What do you do to encourage them to try new foods?

About the Illustrator:

Ben Whitehouse is an illustrator born and raised in Birmingham, UK. He currently lives in Chepstow, Wales, with his lively border collie named Sparrow. Ben has recently worked at Aardman Animations as an assistant animator.

He has also worked in the animation industry as a character designer, animator, and stop-motion puppet maker before finding his happy feet within the world of illustration.

About Tommy Nelson:

Tommy Nelson® is the children’s division of Thomas Nelson. As a leading provider of Christian content, Tommy Nelson publishes a wide variety of high-quality, enjoyable products that are consistent with the teachings found in the Bible. Tommy Nelson’s award-winning products are designed to expand children’s imaginations and nurture their faith while inspiring them to develop a personal relationship with Jesus. For more information, visit tommynelson.com.

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I have them help me prepare different foods and then I sneak in some finely chopped vegis without them knowing - sometimes I will tell them afterwards - but they enjoy it. Most recently was adding colored bell peppers and zucchini to spaghetti sauce and a taco bake - works great!

As a parent of three one being autistic, there are some days I struggle more than others trying to get them to eat their veggies. One of the things I've learned to do is try to find something that integrates something they like such as spaghetti or fried rice and instead of noodles try something like spaghetti squash or riced broccoli and cauliflower. If neither work the last attempt is to give them something like V8.